<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Walls Closing In... by AllHallowsEve</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22393885">Walls Closing In...</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllHallowsEve/pseuds/AllHallowsEve'>AllHallowsEve</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Wincest Colored Glasses [34]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anger, Angst, Confusion, Drinking, Drunkenness, Episode: s02e12 Nightshifter, Jealousy, Longing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Self-Hatred, Sexual Frustration, Slow Burn, Wincest - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 08:47:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,502</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22393885</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllHallowsEve/pseuds/AllHallowsEve</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Sam hunt another dangerous shape shifter while trying to keep innocent civilians alive all while locked in a bank.  The FBI is closing in on the Winchesters as the brothers run from their own feelings.</p>
<p>Season 2 Episode 12 as seen through Wincest Colored Glasses.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dean Winchester &amp; Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Wincest Colored Glasses [34]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1034354</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Walls Closing In...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I cannot begin to apologize enough for allowing so much time to have passed between the last episode and this one.  Thank you to all who have given me comments of support and encouragement to add more to this series.  I truly cannot thank you enough and it is really because of you that I finally pushed through the blocks and negativity to get this story done.</p>
<p>As always this story is unbeta'd and after a year away from this series I feel a bit rusty so I apologize if this isn't up to the usual standard.  I hope you will be patient with me as I get back in the saddle.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a couple of weeks since they left the haunted inn.  Neither brother felt great about how that particular case was left unsolved, even if it was resolved, but that wasn’t why things were awkward between them.  There was heaviness in the air anytime they were in the same room, which meant Dean was staying out of the room as much as possible anytime they had downtime.  He had spent the last two nights passed out drunk in Baby, with Sam believing he was hooking up with a different woman each night.  This left Sam feeling forlorn, jealous, and needy, but unable to share that with the one person that could make it better.</p>
<p>Dean was restless, the promise he made to his drunken brother weighed him down in a way that made carrying the secret from his father all those months seem like a cake walk.</p>
<p>Dean entered the motel room with burgers and beer laden arms and a fake grin on his face.  “Heya Sammy, since we’ll be leaving town tomorrow to go check into the weird robbery suicide thing I’m gonna try my luck at the last new watering hole this town has to offer after dinner, to scare up some funds with the easy marks I saw walking in.”</p>
<p>Sam couldn’t take Dean being gone one more night so he threw on a fake smile of his own and said, “Sounds good!  I’ll come with.” </p>
<p>He ignored the way Dean’s smile slightly faltered, assuming that meant it wasn’t only cash his brother was planning to fish for that night.  Sam doggedly continued, “We always make more money when we con the pool tables together.”</p>
<p>Dean couldn’t come up with a logical excuse to chase his brother off and he couldn’t actually say, <em>hey I was trying to drink myself into oblivion so that maybe I would stop wanting you</em> in explanation either so he just answered, “That’s great Sam! You haven’t hustled pool with me in ages.  We’ll clean up for sure.”</p>
<p>They both smiled sickly sweet grins at each other, neither looking forward to the plan but determined to play their roles, for the other’s benefit, with gusto.</p>
<p>There wasn’t actually a pool table in the place so the brothers had settled into a back corner with a beer for Sam and a row of shots for Dean.  Even though the thought of drinking still made Sam green around the gills after his last fiasco he nursed the bottle in front of him, not really knowing what to do with himself as Dean scoped out the bar for chicks.</p>
<p>Dean threw back three of the shots in quick succession and went to get a couple more from the bar.  Sam berated himself as to why he had thought this was a good idea to begin with.</p>
<p>Sam didn’t see it but Dean shot back three more at the bar before bringing the four new shots with him back to the table.</p>
<p>Sam did notice the wobble to Dean’s walk before he slid into the booth across from his brother, spilling a little of the liquor as he did so.  “Heya Sammy,” Dean said with a bit of a slur and a sloppy smile.</p>
<p>Sam’s eyebrows raised in surprise.  He had never known Dean to get drunk on so few shots before.  Maybe he had done a little day drinking before he had brought dinner back.  It wouldn’t be the first time Dean had started imbibing early.</p>
<p>“You feeling okay there, Dean?”  He tried for a teasing tone but didn’t fully land it but Dean didn’t seem to notice.</p>
<p>“Mmmhmm…” Dean said noncommittally as his eyes roamed the bar for the hundredth time.  A small scowl wrinkled his forehead.  Pretty girls were as scarce in this place as the pool tables.  He was fighting a losing battle.  He should never have agreed to do this tonight.  He felt like a loose cannon ever since he had wanted to take advantage of drunken Sam that night at the inn. That was a new low even for the monster he considered himself to be, having crossed some unknown barrier inside himself into desires that were pushing his boundaries more each day and making it harder to just be in the same room without wanting to sweep his brother’s feet and jump him wherever he landed.</p>
<p>All he had managed to do to deal with it was run away from Sam ever since.  Now he was stuck in this booth across from Sam with no pool and no women and he didn’t know what to do with himself other than drink.</p>
<p>Sam began fidgeting with the bottle in his hands, rolling its bottom edge back and forth against the table, and then picking at the label, peeling one corner and then the next, anything to keep from staring at his brother the way he truly wanted to. </p>
<p>The motion drew Dean’s attention to Sam’s long fingers as they twisted and pulled at the paper, moving up and down the glass neck of the bottle. Dean’s mind inadvertently thinking about what else those digits were capable of, and soon his eyes wandered up his brother’s strong arms, admiring the muscles moving and flexing, visible from where his flannel sleeves were rolled up to the elbow.  His eyes roamed up further to Sam’s tanned neck exposed by the v collar of the t-shirt under the flannel. He admired Sam’s soft hair, the continually growing length that now fell slightly below his ears.  The liquor flowing and burning through Dean allowing him to exam his brother in a way he never gave himself permission to do on his own.</p>
<p>Sam’s lips were parted slightly and his tongue would occasionally peek out and wet the middle of his lower lip.  It made Dean lick his own lips in a Pavlovian response.  Dean shifted in his seat to accommodate the growing boner that was beginning to make his jeans uncomfortable.</p>
<p>The movement made Sam look up and meet his gaze for the first time since Dean had come back to the table.  Dean picked up one of the shots and downed it, expecting Sam to look away, but his brother didn’t.  Sam seemed to examine Dean in the same way Dean had been looking at him, <em>okay maybe not the same way</em>, Dean thought to himself, but he wasn’t used to Sam holding his gaze, for no reason.</p>
<p>The alcohol was coursing through his veins, making him reckless and having Sam’s eyes on him made his skin long for more than visual attention.  “Hey Sam, do you still miss Jessica?”</p>
<p>Sam swallowed hard.  <em>What the fuck?</em>  “Dean?”</p>
<p>Dean wanted to pound his own forehead into the wooden table and cover his mouth with his hands to get himself to shut up. </p>
<p>Instead, his mouth went ahead with his train of thought, “Well I was just wondering because you are mister ‘let’s share our feelings’, but you don’t talk about her anymore like you did right after what happened.” Dean swallowed hard, he couldn’t seem to shut his mouth no matter how much he would like to stop this train and get off, “But you never seem to do random hookups and so I wondered if it was because of her?”</p>
<p>Dean was beginning to feel not so great.  The emotions and nerves mixed with all the alcohol churned his stomach in a sickly way.</p>
<p>Sam’s normally expressive face went blank.  He shut down every part of his countenance that might visually betray the thoughts of Dean that instantly flooded through his system. <em>How was he supposed to answer that loaded question?  What was going on with his brother? Had someone ruffied Dean’s drinks?</em></p>
<p>“Uh…”  Sam cleared his throat and downed the beer left in his bottle, which had gotten warm and caused him to grimace once he was through with it.  It did little to aid him with liquid courage but at least gave him an extra moment to use to get his thoughts together.</p>
<p>He plastered on his charm a witness smile and said, “You’re the master of love ‘em and leave ‘em, Dean, not me. Always have been.  That’s just not my style, you know that.”</p>
<p>The smile made Dean wonder when the last time he saw Sam really happy.  Things had been so wrong between them ever since he had told Sam about their dad’s declaration.  The last time he remembered Sam seeming to have any joy was before Dean’s stupid ‘flirting with Sam’ disaster.  When he had mistakenly thought Sam might want him the way he so desperately wants Sam.</p>
<p>“Mmmhmm…”  Dean picked up the last shot in front of him and downed it before he remembered he wasn’t feeling so hot.</p>
<p>It roiled his stomach and before he had time for his brain to catch up with his body his mouth had said, “Why do ya think everyone assumes we’re gay?”</p>
<p>Sam blinked, frozen by the sudden shift as much as the subject matter.</p>
<p>“Dude, how much did you drink before we got here?”  Sam tried to deflect the conversation.</p>
<p>“Sam I am trying to have a legitimate conversation here,” Dean’s head began to swim.</p>
<p>“You get pissy when people think we’re gay and I just wanna know what I need to change so you won’t keep gettin’ mad at me.”</p>
<p>Sam had no idea what Dean was talking about and he said so. Dean’s face screwed up in confusion.</p>
<p>Dean began, “You know that time that I… that you…”</p>
<p>A waitress walked by with a burger and fries for the guy at the next table and Dean took a big whiff.  His mouth said yum and his stomach went in a different direction.</p>
<p>Dean blinked and swayed and jumped up from the table and bolted for the door holding his mouth.</p>
<p>Sam pulled out some cash, threw it on the table, and closed the distance to the door much faster than Dean’s shorter wobbly drunk legs had allowed.</p>
<p>His brother had only made it a few steps to the side of the door and was hunched over a sad looking bush that must have had this happen to it one too many times if its stunted broken limbs were any indication.</p>
<p>Sam was rattled and his hands were shaking as he reached to help Dean stand.</p>
<p>“Dude, I’ve never seen you barf from drinking too much.  Are you coming down with something?”</p>
<p>“I dunno Sam.  Stop swaying and stand still for a moment will ya?”</p>
<p>Sam tried to hide how disconcerted he was with a laugh as he held Dean in place next to the Impala.  Once Dean looked a little more steady, Sam said, “Let’s get you back to the motel so you can sleep off whatever this is.”</p>
<p>Sam lay awake that night listening to Dean snore loudly.  Normally Dean’s snoring made Sam sleep better, knowing his brother was there and not off with some woman of the week, but tonight it just made him worry.  He had no clue what any of that had been about and was completely confused and unnerved. </p>
<p>Sam was in a pretty foul mood the next morning from lack of sleep and from a dream that had replayed the events of the night before, only Dean had been stone cold sober when he had asked his questions and Sam had answered with a heartfelt, “I’m in love with you Dean, that’s why I don’t hook up, that’s why people think were gay.” </p>
<p>Rage and disgust had been the reason Dean had run out of the bar, in Sam’s hateful dream, not a need to puke as had played out in reality.  Sam had woken up in a cold sweet with exhaustion making him sluggish and nauseated.  Dean however had been whistling and happy, acting like last night’s weirdness never happened as they packed and got on the road, which had grated on Sam’s already jarred nerves.</p>
<p>Dean had fallen into his defensive habit of nonchalance and ignoring his problems from the moment he woke up that morning.  But the more he tried to engage Sam in banter or teasing, the more Sam shut down and focused on the case.  He had finally just left Sam to his file and tried to focus on whatever case facts Sam would share occasionally as the Impala ate up the highway towards Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Sam hated Dean’s recovery ability and amnesia about the night before, almost as much as he hated that Dean once again chose the pretty girl to interview on the case, leaving Sam the male manager of the jewelry store to talk with when they hit Milwaukee.  Sam tried not to think about how Dean would be chatting her up, getting her number so he could hook up with her after the case finished. </p>
<p>Dean threw himself into flirting hard with the young store clerk.  Once they checked into the motel in town and change clothes to interview witnesses, Sam had done something different with his hair, slicking it back to go with his FBI suit, giving an air of maturity and authority to Sam that surprised Dean and turned his crank something awful. It was enough to drive Dean to distraction.  He couldn’t take it after the cold shoulder Sam had given him on the drive to town.  Dean’s nerves were frayed after his drunken debacle the night before, his happy go lucky mask cracking right in two upon the sight of Sam’s new look. So Dean left the motel determined to find a hookup wherever he could on this case. Lo and behold here was the perfect young woman who seemed completely open to the idea if her shameless flirting was any indication.</p>
<p>Dean walked back over to Sam, inserting himself into the last of Sam’s conversation with the store manager.   Sam turned to look at his brother who indicated that he had gotten the girl’s number and was putting it in his wallet.  Sam sighed in dismay.</p>
<p>They regrouped in the Impala and Sam tried not to think about what would happen later from the slip of paper Dean had pocketed.  Sam tried his damnedest to focus on the case but Dean seemed to be frustrated and irritated already by this case for some reason when earlier he had been in a great mood. </p>
<p>They drove to a former bank security guard’s house where an eerily similar occurrence had happened as with the jewelry store.  Dean complained about the cops on the case as they exited the car to the rain soaked night.  Sam tried to calm Dean’s nerves but nothing he said in defense of the police would ease the tension. Dean’s unexplained whiplash change of mood was almost as weird as what had happened the night before and put Sam on unsteady ground.  He was left feeling untethered, confused and lost.</p>
<p>They walked up to the house, they had parked in front of, discussing the case and how the man they were about to interview had been beaten unconscious by the suspect at the last incident before that person had gone home and committed suicide.  Just like the suspect in the jewelry store case.  None of the facts were making sense but pointed to something being ripe for the brothers’ skill sets.</p>
<p>After meeting and listening to the security guard, Ronald Resnick, Dean was impressed by the work he did on the case.  For a civilian, a wacky one at that, he did really thorough leg work.  It wasn’t Ronald’s fault that he didn’t have all the information to get the facts of the case right, he got a ton of it right, just the wrong villain.  The man was convinced it was something he called a man-droid.</p>
<p>Both brothers realized what that villain actually was when they watched the video Ronald was pointing out and saw an all too familiar shimmer reflection to the culprit’s eyes. Sam felt ice run through his veins as soon as he realized they were dealing with a shape shifter.  With everything else they had been going through lately, the fact that his brother, the love of his life, was wanted for murder and in a national database had somehow slipped his mind, or at least fallen to the bottom of the list of priorities recently.  But the reality of that and what it could mean crashed hard into Sam’s already vulnerable psyche as he watched the retinal flares from the shifter’s eyes on the video tape.</p>
<p>Dean was ready to read Ronald in on the facts, out of respect of what the guy had accomplished on his own.  He assumed Sam was on the same page when Sam stood up and told the guy he would tell him the truth.  Dean was shocked and dismayed by the harsh tone Sam took with Ronald, denying any of what the man believed.  Dean felt sorry for the guy as he watched his face deflate as Sam berated Ronald and crushed his hopes of finally being taken seriously.</p>
<p>Dean wasn’t used to Sam taking such a cold tone with the civilians they came into contact with.  Sam was normally the compassionate caring one.  Dean was surprised and wanted to say something but didn’t want to fight with his brother, especially not in front of Ronald. </p>
<p>Sam had been on edge for a while now, ever since Ava had disappeared, and Dean was having a hard time coping with it, especially after Sam had forced Dean to promise to kill him if he turned dark.  Today Sam had seemed especially distant and terse after Dean’s bumbling behavior the night before.  Dean was dismayed that this divergence of how they would have handled Ronald so differently was just another way to prove the brothers weren’t on the same page and it hurt more than Dean wanted to think about.</p>
<p>The authoritative tone Sam’s voice took on, while he was dealing with Ronald as he demanded the man remand the tapes into their custody, would normally have done evil things to Dean’s libido but not this time.  This time it felt like it just drove a wedge deeper between them.</p>
<p>They went back to the motel and once again changed clothes.  Dean was glad Sam was out of his FBI uniform.  He was having trouble dealing with how easily Sam slipped into the unusually harsh Fed identity.  He told Sam so. </p>
<p>Sam became defensive and asked if Dean was pissed at him so Dean tried to explain what was eating at him about the entire situation.</p>
<p>Sam became frustrated.  He didn’t want to lose another innocent the way he lost Ava, and the guy who had died under his drunken watch at the hotel.  Sam was tired of fucking things up and huffed his irritation as he defended his belief about why he wanted Ronald to stay in the dark about shape shifters in order for him to stay alive. Sam was full of turmoil and his emotions roiled and churned inside him. </p>
<p>He stared at the monitor in front of him as Dean sat behind him at the table working on the sewer blueprints of the city around the areas that had been hit by the shifter.  Sam didn’t feel up to watching his brother work.  Normally he loved watching Dean work a case.  People always discounted Dean’s mind but Sam loved to watch him work out puzzles and figure out answers to cases they worked.  Dean’s quiet brilliance was just as attractive as his over the top bravado side, it was one of Sam’s favorite things to behold normally. </p>
<p>The last few weeks Sam had found it harder and harder to stay out of his brother’s orbit.  He was miserable and edgy all the time from want and fear and after last night this felt like too much. </p>
<p>Dean stated from behind him, “I hate those freakin’ things.”</p>
<p>Sam’s jaw clenched.  He was so angry and desperate from fear this déjà vu case had brought up in him that he wanted to punch something.  “You think I don’t?”  He asked bitterly.</p>
<p>Dean stated the obvious about it not being Sam the shape shifter had turned into and framed for murder, insinuating that Dean had the upper hand in hating shifters.  Sam didn’t want to fight him, he was tired and scared of losing his brother to jail, and losing himself to the darkness, and just tired of feeling helpless about losing the battle of wanting his brother in the worst way.</p>
<p>He tried to focus on the case and just talk out a plan. He refused to turn and approach his brother.  Choosing to discuss the case from where he sat with his back to Dean.  His brother looked especially good tonight and he just didn’t have it in him to fight the desire anymore so he only looked at him when he had to while Dean discussed what the map overlays had proven out.</p>
<p>They made a plan to go to the only bank left on the sewer main where they thought the shifter would hold up.  So the next day they dressed in their coveralls decked out as computer specialist for a security company.  Dean found himself distracted multiple times on the way to the bank because Sammy looked ever so good in the dark blue disguise.  He hadn’t gotten to hook up with the young woman last night the way he had hoped and his dick didn’t want to be ignored this morning.</p>
<p>He kept telling it and himself to focus on the case but as they walked together into the bank Dean had to adjust his stance and gait to try to relieve the tightness of the uniform.</p>
<p>Sam had had another nightmare the night before.  This time it was of Dean finally confessing to being in love with Sam and them quickly getting naked.  When Dean was ball’s deep in Sam and Sam was at the height of pleasure, the motel room door had swung open, and Dean was standing in the door, his face a mask of horror and disgust at what he was witnessing. Sam’s confused brain quickly realized the Dean inside him was the shifter they had been chasing.   He woke up to his heart pounding, the shame and fear from his dream still palpable on his tongue.</p>
<p>This caused Sam to be noticeably quiet again this morning so Dean took the lead when discussing their cover story with the security guard at the bank.  The guy was easily fooled and didn’t even ask for their work order.  He left them alone to watch the wall of monitors in the security office</p>
<p>Once they were alone, Dean’s problem was even harder to handle.  Sam’s smell permeated the small office.  Dean’s nerves were already on overload as was his dick, so he tried to distract himself by looking at any woman on the monitor he found halfway decent looking.  He needed a hookup immediately as soon as this case was over.  And if Sam happened to notice the bulge in his pants Dean needed a logical excuse for it other than <em>hey dude I want to pork you in the worst way</em>.</p>
<p>Sam noticed what his brother was doing with the monitor and it stomped on his nerves.  He had worked his entire life to deal with his desires for his older brother.  He had come to terms with the fact that Dean would hook up with any woman he met, but for some reason lately Sam just had no tolerance for it.  He tried to conceal just how annoyed he was when he told his brother they were supposed to be looking for eyes, but was losing the battle and was about to throw a fit when Dean noticed a retinal flare.  Sam was up and out of his chair ready to have something tangible to fight at last instead of just fighting himself, but didn’t make it to the door before Dean stopped him with a “Sam.”</p>
<p>His “What?” reply came out breathy and agitated. </p>
<p>Dean was dismayed to have to point out that Ronald had shown up and was throwing a huge kink in their plan by barricading the front doors.  His heart sank.  The poor schmuck.  They had really left him no choice but to try to fix the problem on his own.  Dean felt for the dude and admired his determination but he was so pissed that they had to deal with him and try to talk him down while also having to deal with the deadly shape shifter. </p>
<p>As the brothers made their way towards where Ronald was shooting and yelling, Dean berated Sam about his insistence they didn’t bring guns.  Dean tried to keep his frustration out of his tone as he told Sam to let him do the talking, since it was clear that Ronald wouldn’t be happy to see Sam’s Agent Johnson.</p>
<p>His point was made for him when Sam lost his temper and yelled at Ronald for accusing them of working for the man-droid as soon as he saw them.  Dean’s day got even worse when the guy Ronald instructed to pat the brothers down actually found the silver knife he had smuggled in his boot.</p>
<p>Sam gave an unbelieving accusatory look at Dean but he defended himself by saying “I’m not just going to walk in here naked.”  He couldn’t believe Sam would ever think that was possible in the first place so he didn’t understand his little brother’s surprise.  He should have known better.</p>
<p>Dean tried being honest with Ronald to talk him down.  He told him about the bank manager and how they had seen his eyes in the monitors.  He said he believed Ronald.  It began to work and then Ronald lost it again.  Sam’s blood ran cold when Dean didn’t just try to calm the man by talking but began to stand up and then said “Take me as a hostage.”</p>
<p>Sam felt completely powerless as he watched his brother offer himself up at the point of Ronald’s gun. Sam felt only a slight sense of relief when he realized Dean’s being honest was beginning to pay off.  But his relief was short lived when it became clear that Ronald was going to lock Sam up with the other innocent people leaving Dean alone with not only unhinged Ronald but with the shape shifter out in the bank somewhere with no one to watch his brother’s back.</p>
<p>Sam’s distraught panic deepened as he watched his brother close the heavy, impossible to breach, door between them.  Sam could do nothing to help Dean and had to trust that his brother’s years of training would keep him safe. </p>
<p>A woman behind Sam asked him who Dean was and Sam answered, “He’s my brother.”  All the fear and pain and powerlessness he felt came out in the whispered tone of his simple answer.</p>
<p>But then exhaustion flooded him when she said “He is so brave.” With desire plain in her hushed lust filled tone.  Of course he had to be trapped in this prison with a woman who wanted his brother.  He huffed as he wondered what other fresh hell this day had in store for him.</p>
<p>Dean and Ronald searched for the bank manager but found only the disgusting proof of the shifter’s shedding the manager’s disguise instead.  Dean explained to Ronald what they were actually hunting putting the man-droid theory to bed once and for all.  Dean managed to find a silver letter opener which he explained to Ronald was the only thing they had found that could hurt shifters.  Ronald was thrilled to realize he wasn’t actually crazy and that he had been mostly right about everything.</p>
<p>Ronald’s happiness was short lived however when the power went off everywhere inside the bank.  Dean realized immediately it was the police and they were probably surrounded.  He relayed the message to Ronald with the dismaying information that it also meant that they no longer had any way to tell who the shifter was since the cameras would also be inoperable.</p>
<p>Dean was on his way to a well earned pity party when the two men heard a loud sound in an area off the main lobby.</p>
<p>Sam’s patience with the perky blonde was wearing thin as she followed him around the small enclosed room chattering on about Dean and how he was a hero, asking Sam if he had always been that brave.  Sam sighed and just said yeah.</p>
<p>He didn’t have to hear her further fantasies about his hero brother though because Dean opened the vault door.  She began to get excited saying that he had saved them but Dean dissuaded her of that idea by brandishing a gun and instructing the security guard along with several other people to join her in the vault.  The blonde’s tone turned upset and accusatory as Dean told Sam that he and Ronald had to talk with him so Sam left the vault as Dean closed the door behind him.</p>
<p>Sam was thrilled to see Dean.  Thrilled he was alive and that he seemed to have Ronald calmed down.  But as soon as Sam realized the police had the place surrounded his heart began to pound in panic.  Dean couldn’t get arrested.  He couldn’t lose Dean.  Not that way, and not to the shifter, but as Dean explained that the shifter had shed its skin and they had no way of knowing who it might be, Sam’s fear quadrupled.  Dean blew Sam’s worries off by saying “one problem at a time,” launching into his plan to sweep the entire area to gather any stragglers together in order to then find the shifter amongst them.</p>
<p>He gave Sam the second silver letter opener he had found and told him to stay and help Ronald manage the situation.  Sam’s barely held together patience snapped.  Dean didn’t seem to be taking the police problem seriously and now he wanted Sam to baby sit Ronald who made this mess in the first place.  He was livid and frightened and yelled at Dean about it, asking him if he was insane.  Dean whispered to his little brother that he knew things weren’t going the way they wanted and Sam lost it again by yelling “Understatement!”</p>
<p>Dean tried to calm Sam and use logic about the impossibility of letting the cops in and losing any chance they had of catching the shifter, not to mention getting arrested.  Sam listened and started to calm slightly until he noticed Ronald brandishing his gun at the lit up windows.  He pointed it out to Dean in frustration. Dean told Ronald to stay out of the light but his tone showed that he wasn’t nearly as annoyed by Ronald as Sam was, which did nothing to alleviate Sam’s plight.</p>
<p>Dean finally convinced Sam to stay with Ronald so that he could make his way further into the bank to begin his sweep.</p>
<p>Sam talked Ronald into opening the vault to let some air in so the people wouldn’t suffocate but then the phone rang and Ronald began talking to the police.  Sam hung up the phone impatiently before Ronald said too much, but in the meantime the guard began having a heart attack.  Sam didn’t know whether it was a ruse and he was the shifter or if it was legitimate, but he couldn’t take the chance of letting another innocent person die on his watch.  So he put a call in to the police asking for a paramedic.</p>
<p>Dean came back to the vault and explained to Sam that he knew who the shifter was because he had found a dead body hidden in the ceiling of one of the offices.  It was the man who was trying to “help” the security guard, insisting they unlock the doors so he could take the guard out.  Sam went into the vault and helped the security guard telling everyone he would take the guard outside for help. </p>
<p>Dean stayed behind to confront the shifter, but as soon as he had gotten the guy out of the vault the shifter attacked him and got away.</p>
<p>When Ronald heard Dean chasing the man and yelling he went back into the main lobby to try to help Dean but inadvertently stepped into a clear line of sight of one of the police snipers and was killed. </p>
<p>Sam’s heart sank, yet another innocent person dead on his watch.  The shifter ran out of Dean’s line of sight as Dean ducked for cover. </p>
<p>Sam ran to his brother’s side.  His fury at the shifter and at the situation in general bubbled over.  He had to end this, he couldn’t stomach another life lost, especially if it might be his brother’s.  He handed Dean the key to the front door and told him to take care of the guard and then ran after the shifter before Dean had a chance to stop him.</p>
<p>Dean moved through the lobby from covered area to covered area making his way to where Ronald lay prone and still.  Dean was so disappointed things ended this way for the guy, who did such a great job of figuring things out with really limited information.  He couldn’t focus on that, though, he had to get the guard out of there so that he could help Sam end this shifter once and for all.</p>
<p>His heart was heavy as he picked up Ronald’s gun and made his way to the front door with the guard.  It got even worse when he pushed the guard out the door and took stock of the situation surrounding the bank.  There were news cameras and SWAT teams everywhere.  As he locked the inner doors again he said to himself, “We are so screwed.”</p>
<p>Sam called him and informed him that the shifter had slipped its skin yet again and that he thought all the people had left the vault by now.  Dean said he was going to round everyone up again and instructed Sam to search every inch of the place.</p>
<p>It didn’t take long for Dean to gather a bunch of the people.  As he locked the vault down the phone just outside of it rang. Dean answered and there was a Special Agent Victor Hendrickson on the other end.  He not only threatened Dean with bringing him in dead or alive, he seemed to know everything, not just about Dean, but also about Sam, calling him the Bonnie to Dean’s Clyde.  Dean was unnerved by all the information the agent was able to rattle off about him and his supposed crimes along with their dad and how they were raised. The more the agent told him about the info he had gathered on the Winchesters, the more frightened Dean became. Dean tried to hide his fear behind his usual bravado but was completely rattled by everything the man said about him and his family. </p>
<p>The guy finalized the aggressive call by telling Dean that he and Sam had an hour to come out unarmed or they were coming in fully loaded.</p>
<p>Sam found the dead body of the woman from the vault that had been talking nonstop about Dean.  When he got back to Dean outside the vault, they exchanged their bad news.   They persuaded the woman out of the vault and took her to see the corpse.  The woman began to scream and freak out, both brothers thought it was an act until she passed out on the floor.  Dean was confused by the unexpected bizarre behavior, but went in for the kill anyway.  Before he plunged the silver home, Sam stopped him, asking him what the point of her fainting would be, explaining it wouldn’t help her survive, so Dean went to look at the corpse to see if he could figure out what was going on.  Sam watched the fainted woman while Dean got closer to examine the other body but before he had a chance, there was an explosion of glass somewhere else in the bank. </p>
<p>Dean’s attention was diverted just long enough for the shifter, posing as the corpse, to grab him by the throat.  The real woman, began to scream and freak out again and Sam took hold of her to keep her out of the way.  Dean fought with the shifter telling Sam to get Sherri out of there.  Sam had no idea when Dean had found the time to learn the pretty woman’s name, but sighed his resignation around that idea as he hurried her towards the area he assumed the cops had breached to get her to safety. </p>
<p>The shifter fought Dean off yet again and got away.</p>
<p>Hendrickson had indeed sent his people inside to search for the brothers.  Dean was making his way after the shifter when he heard two of the SWAT heading in his direction.  He managed to get away unnoticed to continue his search but Sam wasn’t so lucky.  Two of the SWAT team cornered him at gunpoint, but Sam deftly took them out. </p>
<p>Dean had a harder time with the shifter who caught him off guard yet again.  They fought and fought but he finally managed to plunge the silver into its heart.  He bent over the body examining it so intently that he didn’t notice the figure come up behind him until light from a flashlight was clicked on illuminating him and his predicament.  His heart jumped into his throat at the thought of having to explain to Sam that he let yet another cop get the jump on him.  His brother was going to be so pissed.</p>
<p>Sam didn’t let him sweat too long but laughed in his face, making fun of how freaked out Dean looked when Sam lifted the visor on the SWAT helmet he was now wearing.</p>
<p>He explained how he had taken the uniform from one of the two guys who he had knocked out and he had the other guy’s uniform all ready and waiting for Dean.  Dean couldn’t believe his betraying dick got hard again just from hearing Sam’s nonchalant telling of his taking out two well trained SWAT guys on his own.  He rolled his eyes at his own body’s insistence at inappropriate timing.</p>
<p>The sounds of searching grew louder and Dean quickly made his way into the SWAT gear hiding his problem by a swift turn of his back.  They moved in tandem silently through the bank and out the front door.  Neither man stopping nor letting out a breath until they were seated once more in the waiting Impala. </p>
<p>The brothers removed their helmets and breathed heavily, not making eye contact both so lost in thought about how close they came to real disaster.  Neither said anything for several beats and then Dean put sound to both of their fears by saying “We are so screwed.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So life has been a bit of a bitch.  As I have stated in comments to people who asked about continuing the series, I attempted this episode four different times over the past year and I just couldn't do it.  So in this instance, 5th time is the charm I suppose.  I don't feel this is my best or strongest work, but I had to start back somewhere.  Unfortunately this episode itself doesn't hold a ton of Wincest glances or innuendo which I feel was at least in part a reason for it being such a bear for me to try to fight through in the first place, which is why there was so much of my own additions at the start of it.</p>
<p>I hope the next episode is easier, it is one of my favorites and so I am looking forward to it.</p>
<p>I want to give a special shoutout to  <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsGer/pseuds/MsGer">MsGer</a>  Thank you for being my friend and supporter here on AO3 and in real life.</p>
<p>A huge THANK YOU!! goes to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mynxie/pseuds/Mynxie">Mynxie</a> with out your voracious absorbing of this series intravenously over two days and leaving incredible comments and encouragement along the way, I don't think I would have had the determination or renewed drive to get back into it when I did.  </p>
<p>Lastly I want to thank <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faraway22/pseuds/Faraway22">Faraway22</a> for being with me since almost the first time I posted a Wincest story on this site.  Your constant support and comments mean the world to me.  </p>
<p>To all my other commenters, I love you more than I can express!  I had no expectation of anyone giving my stories support when I began posting here.  I read and cherish ever single syllable of every single comment left on any of my stories and I want you to know that they have pulled me out of darkness more times than I can count.</p>
<p>Anyhoo, I won't promise that my depression will no longer get in the way, or that my despair that the show itself is almost at an end won't weigh me down too much to write.  But I have every intention of muddling through and writing this series to the end of the line if I live long enough to do so.  </p>
<p>Your comments and kudos really do change people's days, and lives for that matter!!!  I know they have mine!!  Love to you all!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>